COUNTYWIDE : Driver, 72, Dies After Van Drifts Into Tree

KIM KASH

A Ventura man was killed Saturday on the southbound Ventura Freeway when his van drifted from the right lane across three lanes of traffic and into the center median, hitting a eucalyptus tree, the California Highway Patrol said.

Albert Aufderheide, 72, of Ventura sideswiped a Ford van when his Dodge Ram van swerved left near the Oxnard Boulevard exit, the CHP said. The driver of the Ford, Stanley Freeman, 22, and his passenger, Eddie Crowley, 19, both of Simi Valley, said Aufderheide appeared to be unconscious when his vehicle hit them. Freeman and Crowley were not injured, the CHP said.

Aufderheide was taken to St. John's Regional Medical Center in Oxnard, where he was pronounced dead at 2:25 p.m., a hospital spokeswoman said.